Untruth or Consequences
Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment
to an insane world
--R. D. Laing
We are here to awaken from
our illusion of separateness
--Thich Nhat Hanh
Insanity is the only sane reaction
to an insane society
--Thomas Szasz
__________________
to an insane world
--R. D. Laing
We are here to awaken from
our illusion of separateness
--Thich Nhat Hanh
Insanity is the only sane reaction
to an insane society
--Thomas Szasz
__________________
The ability to maintain sanity in a insane world has been frequent question here at RAW. We wonder; Can we maintain sanity only by accepting insanity as our daily ration of reality?
An example of which we speak is the current brinksmanship over a few trillion dollars and the debt ceiling, as though our existence hinged upon this amount. We languish while a recent Brown University study estimates the final bill for the Iraq and Afghanistan adventures at $3.7 to 4,4 trillion (and the fat lady is not gonna sing anytime soon.)
Buried in yesterday's Wall Street Journal was statement that NATO will continue bombing Libya because Muammer Qadaffi has no legitimacy. Did Qadaffi ever have legitimacy in this or any other arena? If then, why not know?
Page Two explains that Afghan President Karzai quickly appointed another half-brother, Shah Wali, to replace the government post vacated by his now dead half-brother Ahmed Wali (Karzai Appoints Brother in Kandahar). It seems the endless supply of Wallys will secure the Karzai's control of the Kandahar region. Now that is democracy in action; thank you, America!
So, we are bombing the hell out of Libya because its leader lacks legitimacy, while concomitantly supporting the illegitimacy of one of the most corrupt governments on the face of the earth. In one scenario we kill to oppose illegitimacy; in another, we kill to support it.
Why do Americans grind their teeth over the debt cap while having no difficulty throwing away $trillions in foreign shit holes?
Where is the sanity? After taking my meds and settling into my Ikea Poang chair, the idea hit Ranger like a ton of bricks: "What's the big deal?" It was not exactly a Thich Nanh Hanh moment, but it was clarity nonetheless. So some drug-dealing, nepotistic person is getting one over on all of us taxpaying U.S. citizens paying for a hypocritical, insane war. What do I care, except that we are back to $trillions spent and a whole lot of people fucked up in the process, which in my book is a good approximation of national insanity.
Didn't we do a similar tango here in Florida in the 2000 Presidential lotto? In our version, Governor Jeb Bush handed the presidency to his brother George W. Bush. Again, what is the big deal? A lot of sound and fury, but the result is a foregone conclusion. How can we criticize the Karzai cabal (Kabul) when the U.S. uses the same playbook?
Insanity may be a coping strategy in America today.
Labels: afghanistan, debt ceiling, economy, karzai, phony war on terror, PWOT, qadaffi
posted by rangeragainstwar at 3:20 PM
17 Comments:
"a recent Brown University study estimates the final bill for the Iraq and Afghanistan adventures at $3.7 to 4,4 trillion "
Don't forget the interest on the $. That's going to be, wait for it, $1 Trillion. Total bill, $5.4 Trillion. WASF
barca,
As i said---the fat lady ain't even ready to start singin'
jim
Ranger, my wife and I have been reading your and Lisa's thoughts and veiws for a few years now-I agree 99.9% with what you have to say on most any particular subject you speak about. This is my first posting on your site as you say what I feel and think and you do it well.
You and I might have walked the same red (dust) dirt back in late 69-70. We are somewhat neihbours-We live in New Smyrna Beach-Please keep up with the TRUTH & FACTS-for they are the same same and it seems like in the last 11 yrs espcially they haven't meant anything.
Thank You, Doc & Kipper
Ron(Doc)Abner
2/8 mech inf 4th in div
Vietnam Dec 13,69-Oct 28,70
Combat Medic Badge,Purple Heart,Army Comm,Good Conduct.etc
sitting on top of the world...
Doc,
My Ranger Buddy LT gene Holder was in the 1st or 2nd of the 8th/4Div. I can't remember , but you were there the same time. He was 1 hell of a soldier.
We used to jokingly say that their were no veterans of the 4th, only survivors.Jokingly???!!! I've learned to be kinder as i age.
It's always such a pleasure to hear from guys like you. I'm even happy if the guys don't agree, as long as we remember that we all loved America when we carried a rifle /rucksack and medical kits for her.
I always am amazed that the Army fought in VN during our time frame SINCE we knew it was a bucket of lost shit. The guys before TET
at least had an illusion of winning. The fact that we fought is a testament to our patriotism.
If you're ever in Tall., give me an up.
I write for guys like you.
jim
Doc,
BTB, i'll have to work harder to get you to agree with the other .01% that i espouse.
jim
Doc,
As a fellow Vietnam Vietnam '66-68', 199th LIB, 187th Assault Helicopter Company I'd like to welcome for 'showing up on station'. I traveled 3000 miles to thank the 25th Inf medic that gave me a shot of morphine and started a drip, in the first week of the TET offensive fighting. This time I was the one giving shots of pain killer. I noticed that he still wore a towel around his neck and had never been treated for PTSD. I knew he didn't know what PTSD was, as our trust grew and the Wild Turkey flowed, I mentioned I had PTSD and there was treatment available and let it slide. We were only together for a hour, the old Doc and this gunship 'gang banger' but I had done what I always wanted to do, thank the 'Doc'. Some years later, during one of those 'anniversary' months, my PTSD was raging and I was on the computer and googled the 'Doc's' name, I came across a link to a Texas university's, Vietnam oral history project. I listened to his two hour taped interview 3/4 of the way thru the tape, the interviewer ask the Doc, "what brought you to get help with your PTSD?" The Doc said some helicopter guy, I patched up in Vietnam, named 'Frenchy' flew 3000 miles...... As far as agreeing with the 'Ranger' 99.9% of the time your record of accord with the Ranger (as he would attest) far exceeded mine in the past. I'm doing better now I'm at at 99%. Gotta work harder Ranger ;{>
Frenchie.
Roger.
jim
187,
I was thinking about you saying that i need to work harder, and i realize that you're just yankin' my chain, but how many retired Ranger's do you see working at all.?!
They all have their sorry asses out on a golf course and profilin' at the bar at happy hour at the O club.
I'm still earning my tab, in a much different way.
As for ptsd- why do all the guys have such a hard time facing the situation? When they tell me that they don't have any problems then i say my standard reply-THEN WHY DO YOU SLEEP WITH A GUN AND HAVE ONE IN YOUR CAR??
They alwys look gut shot when i say this b/c i was never in their car/bedrooms.
But i'm always right about the guns.
jim
Hi Frenchy,
I'm really glad you're still here. What you did is the best we can do -- reach out and share, and help someone reach an understanding, if possible. We learn when we're ready, right?
Ranger,
Only one that I know of...the one that's right 99.1% of the time... and has been the 'tip of the spear' and has to fight to speak the truth of uncommon wisdom.
Recently I've been thinking recently of the line in the obscure Oliver Stone movie 'U-Turn' when John Voight who plays a tattered, blind, busking, old Native American Indian and Vietnam Veteran; asks Sean Penn, who plays a selfish drug dealer whose car happened to break down in this desert town ghost town points to Penn asks the question, when you die and the Great Spirit looks into you heart, and asks you are you a human being or are you a ghost, what are going to say?" I believe we seem to have become a country of lost ghosts. When I see all the phony patriots in this country who wrap themselves in the flag my heart weeps. There are very few true patriots left, and they don't sit on their ass.
BTW: how did you know I slept with a 1911A1? Keep up the fire, Ranger.
Lisa,
I'm glad I,m still here...lol. We do learn when we're ready don't we? Love your smile....BH
Ranger, very ironic about the Fourth being survivers-that is what I think of myself, just a surviver and told my Brand New Psych(6th in last 9yrs) at the Daytona Beach VA today JUST THAT!We WILL take you up on the offer sometime/maybe meet at a CrackerBarrel somewhere in-between I know how you love them! And Ranger you'll get that other .01% if you continue to channel my thoughts!lol-Again you are right, we KNEW it was a lost cause but we fought for each other much like our son did in his war in Iraq(3 tours). When will we as HUMAN BEINGS quit repeating history?
Also, we called ourselves "The F'd- up Fourth!
Blackhawk 187
I loved you guys-when I still hear the sound of a chopper blade I know I am either getting into the SHIT or getting out of IT! Know about that P.T.S.D. After NAM 20 yrs of four wives and 101 wild turkey-this wild turkey went to the Tuscon VA and got sober in 1991 Between six service connected injuries I have 130% disabilities BUT with the VA MATH SYSTEM I get 100%.Figures,Huh
Thank both of you for popping-a-flare back at me- I will keep reading and I might sputter a few words back once in a while,Doc
Live: from Northern Cali..
Been back from Vietnam for a couple of days now, or was it?
Remember the old one about the shrink and the Vet?:
Shrink:"So when were you were in Vietnam?
Vet: "Last night."
The Vietnamese who kept us from overrunning their place--then--have ptsd as well. Trauma, combat only one of the causes, does that.
During an interview for the film, a former Vietnamese officer asked how American Veterans were dealing with the effects of the war?
I told him about the disproportionate numbers of us among the homeless, in prison, on drugs and/or alcoholor generally disgruntled or pissed off about--most anything.
Make that everything.
He thoughtfully responded that it must be difficult to have to endure that when we thought we were doing something right.
He said I should tell the American Veterans they should return to Vietnam and see their country at peace so that "it might be good for their soul so they might have a peaceful life."
"You were so young then and didn't know better, but now you should."
"Then again, " he added, "It must be more difficult if one has lost a war."
Now , what you gonna say to a man being so gracious about that sordid affair?
I thanked him and told him I'd pass on the invite.
I am interested, however, in how long we gonna carry that bag? It's getting heavier as we age and grow weaker.
My quest is that my last thought not be all that I went through when I was twenty-one.
"Life is short, and it hurts.
Love is the only drug that works"
the writer John Coit once said.
It is.
I don't own a gun.
Can't handle one..if you know what I mean.
But I don't leave the house without a knife in me pocket.
What ptsd?
Not me?
There it is.
Deryle
Fat lady ain't gonna sing Jim, It's become the mainstay of our economy. Well, that and whatever the hedge-fund pukes and the bosses' owners let drizzle to us.
"Trickle-down? Isn't that what happens when one forgets to shake?
Dunno..looking to me like the "dull-gray masses"
(Mark Twain) gonna sleep through this one and the pro-fessional veterans and flag-draggers gonna keep whompin' the war drum.
Hell, if'n they so hell-bent on killing something, why don't they just go at it with each other?
Don't see why we have to pay for it though.
Make 'em find dey own rock.
Lisa,
Per usual, you be right: we learn when we're ready.
Shame so many aren't.
Deryle,
Glad you're back safely, brother. that's a lot of heavy grist for the mill you bring here. This is so felt: "it might be good for their soul so they might have a peaceful life." If only the many prioritized a peaceful life. And yes, love is the only antidote.
BH,
Thank you. Oh, and we learn with a little help from our friends ;)
Deryl,
I carry a knife always. A gentle man carries a gun.
I can't go back, physically i couldn't force myself to do so. I also seldom write of my time in country, but i'm starting to address the issue.
I've done a few essays that are in the cue.I do this as lessons learned , which also means -mistakes made.
It's really hard to view ones life as a mistake< But as you say - there it is.
jim
Doc,
In Infy o's advanced course (IOAC) in 1974 i actually saw captured NVA doc's that verified that the NVA used the 4th as a training vehicle.They ftx'd and blooded their units v. the 4th before sending them south. That's a hard thing to know.
I don't use DVA psychs,i use a civilian Doctor, and i'm tired of training them.
jim
BH<
I once had a drug induced experience in which i saw a flash like a Willie pete going off and a non- threatening voice said to me-you are full of hate and violence. That's the only part that i remember.
That was 1970.
jim
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